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☆ Japan PM Kishida evacuated unhurt after explosion at speech- media
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERSTOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was evacuated unhurt after a suspect threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb at an outdoor speech in western Japan on Saturday, domestic media reported. A loud explosion was heard, but the premier took cover and was unharmed while police subdued a man at the scene, public broadcaster NHK said. Kishida had just started to deliver the speech after touring the harbour when Saturday's incident occurred, NHK said. Kishida was to continue his Saturday afternoon campaign schedule after the incident, the LDP confirmed via its Twitter account. The man appeared to be in his 20s or 30s, media said.

☆ Japan proposes industrial hub in Bangladesh with supply chains to India
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Manoj Kumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, April 11 Reuters) - Japan has proposed developing an industrial hub in Bangladesh with supply chains to the landlocked northeastern states of India, and to Nepal and Bhutan beyond by developing a port and transport in the region, officials said on Tuesday. It comes after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to India last month in which he touted the idea of a new industrial hub for the Bay of Bengal and northeast India that could bolster development in the impoverished region of 300 million people. "It can be a win-win plan for India and Bangladesh," Hiroshi Suzuki, Japan's ambassador to India, said on Tuesday, citing the industrial hub proposal at a meeting of Indian, Bangladeshi and Japanese officials in Agartala, the Tripura state capital. He said the deep seaport was likely to become operational by 2027 and would be a key to building an industrial hub connecting the Bangladeshui capital Dhaka to landlocked areas of India. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will visit Japan from April 25-28 at Kishida's invitation, a government statement said.

☆ Japan PM strongly demands Beijing release detained Astellas employee
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday the government will continue to strongly demand Beijing for an early release and consular visits for an Astellas Pharma (4503.T) employee detained in China. The government would also provide as much support as possible, including contacting his family, Kishida told an Upper House budget committee meeting. Kishida's comments came after the country's foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi met his Chinese counterpart on Sunday and urged China to promptly release the detained JapaneseReporting by Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Zelenskiy posted footage of him greeting Kishida, whom the Ukrainian leader called "a truly powerful defender of the international order and a longtime friend of Ukraine". It is rare for a Japanese leader to make an unannounced foreign visit. [1/5] Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits a site of a mass grave, in the town of Bucha, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine March 21, 2023. Zelenskiy, speaking at a joint briefing with Kishida, said he would join the Hiroshima summit via an online link. Prior to leaving for Poland en route to Ukraine, Kishida visited India, where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Putin touts China's peace plan after talks with Xi; Russian mercenaries say Kyiv is preparing counterattack
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Holly Ellyatt Amanda Macias | Holly Ellyatt | Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

It's the second day of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Moscow on Tuesday. Xi and his host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, reportedly held talks for at least four hours on Monday, with more discussions scheduled Tuesday. The two leaders are focusing talks on deepening their strategic cooperation as well as on the war in Ukraine. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is on his way to Ukraine for summit talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kishida's trip makes him the second Asian leader to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded, after Indonesian President Joko Widodo went there last June.

☆ Japan's big firms offer largest pay rises in decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Tetsushi Kajimoto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Rengo umbrella labour group has called for a 5% pay increase. The JERC survey showed that excluding seniority-based pay, base compensation that boosts fixed labour costs accounts for just 1.08%. "We need to focus on base pay. Workers from Japan's largest group of trade unions last week struck early agreements for hefty wage hikes. Unions have historically tended to settle for relatively meagre pay hikes around 2% in recent years, as unions are inclined to cooperate with management in keeping job security rather than aggressively demanding pay rises.

"Until now, the ministry has taken the defence companies for granted," said Masahisa Sato, an influential ruling party lawmaker and former deputy defence minister. Three of them, Mitsubishi Heavy, Mitsubishi Electric and IHI Corp (7013.T), which makes jet engines, bridges and heavy machinery, confirmed they had also taken part in other lower-level discussions. Reuters asked 10 of Japan's military suppliers, including Toshiba, Mitsubishi Electric, Daikin and Subaru, for interviews with their defence unit managers. Despite diplomatic tensions, China is Japan's top trade partner and a major manufacturing base for many Japanese companies. Even so, Japanese companies often refer to their military products as "special equipment," the government official said.

☆ Japan's big firms set to offer biggest pay rises in decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Tetsushi Kajimoto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Given that consumer inflation, at 4.1%, outpace wage hikes, pay rises of 3% or more need to continue in the coming years to sustain price stability at 2%, said Hisashi Yamada, senior economist at Japan Research Institute. "Average wage hikes that are consistent with the central bank's 2% price target are 3% which can be met this year albeit temporarily," Yamada said. Kishida's government will likely hold a joint three-party meeting with labour and management for the first time in eight years on Wednesday to ensure structural wage hikes. Workers from Japan's largest group of trade unions last week struck early agreements for hefty wage hikes. 1 automaker, and Honda, have also secured their biggest pay rises in decades.

The precedent set at the "shunto" spring wage talks also influences wages at smaller firms that employ seven out of 10 Japanese workers. The shunto wages eventually peaked in 1974 with a record 33% rise in pay. Wary of increasing fixed costs, many Japanese firms have long opted to pay one-off bonuses in good times rather than raise base pay. Economists projected a 2.85% wage increase in a January poll, with base pay increases accounting for 1.08% and 1.78% from an increase in additional salary, based on seniority. Asked whether they would carry out base pay increase, 41.6% said they intended to.

☆ Japan's largest union reaches early deal for higher pay
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - Workers from Japan's largest union have struck early agreements for hefty wage hikes with employers as cost of living pressures grow and businesses scramble to secure staff amid a labour crunch, unionists said on Thursday. The 18 unions have agreed in full with their employers for average wage hikes of 5.28%, the unionists said at a news conference. The Bank of Japan is also desperate to see wage hikes strong enough to achieve sustainable demand-driven inflation. To achieve wage hikes, Kishida's government is set to hold a joint meeting with labour and management on March 15 when the major shunto results are expected. Apart from those unions under UA Zensen, some other groups including automaker unions have also announced that labour's demands for higher pay have been met ahead of a March 15 deadline.

The precedent set at the "shunto" spring wage talks also influences wages at smaller firms that employ seven out of 10 Japanese workers and supply big manufacturers. The focus on job security, rather than higher pay, is blamed for keeping Japan's wage growth stagnant. WHAT WILL BE THE OUTCOME OF THE WAGE TALKS? Analysts expect big firms to offer wage hikes of around 3% in wage talks, which would be the fastest pace of increase since 1997 when Japan was on the cusp of deflation. Kishida has approached Japan's union umbrella Rengo in prodding firms to hike base pay.

It will also test Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's flagship "new capitalism" policy that aims to more widely distribute wealth among households by prodding firms to hike pay. World's largest car maker Toyota (7203.T) accepted a union demand for the biggest base salary growth in 20 years, while gaming giant Nintendo (7974.T) plans to lift base pay by 10%. The gain will comprise a 1.08% rise in base pay and a 1.78% increase in additional salary based on seniority, it said. Uncertainty over the sustainability of wage hikes could prod the BOJ to go slow in dialing back stimulus, some analysts say. The BOJ will probably wait until next year in doing anything radical, such as ending its bond yield control policy."

☆ Progress made in Japan on gender wage gap, but more must be done - government
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, March 8 (Reuters) - Progress has been made on improving working conditions for women in Japan but more must be done, Japan's chief cabinet secretary said on Wednesday, adding that social attitudes about gender equality were poor. Japan ranked 116 out of 146 countries on gender parity in the World Economic Forum's global report last year, and efforts to promote women in management and government have stalled. There are only two women cabinet ministers among the 20 members of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet. Women did 80% of the cooking, compared to 8% of men, and other household chores had a similar weighting. The only job men did more than women was taking out the rubbish, at 49% to 43%.

☆ Japan's lower house of parliament passes record budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The lower house of Japan's parliament passed on Tuesday a record 114.4 trillion yen ($839.3 billion) budget for the next fiscal year that begins in April, a ruling party lawmaker said, a move that would further strain the industrial world's heaviest debt burden. The fiscal 2023 budget featured record military and welfare spending to cope with threats from mighty China and North Korea, and welfare spending for catering to a fast-ageing population. The budget passage in the powerful lower chamber makes it almost certain of its approval by the upper house by the current fiscal year end in March. Kishida's controversial plan to double Japan's defence spending to 2% of gross domestic product by 2027 contributed to a record 6.8 trillion yen increase in spending. ($1 = 136.3000 yen)Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Tom Hogue & Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine envoy is optimistic Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit Kyiv before May
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will likely visit Ukraine's capital before the G-7 Hiroshima Summit, Ukraine's ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky told CNBC. Following U.S. President Joe Biden's surprise visit, Kishida is the only leader left among the Group of Seven who has not visited Ukraine since Russia invaded last year. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have all visited. Kishida's trip would make him the second Asian leader after Indonesian President Joko Widodo's visit in June last year. "We want this to happen as soon as possible," said Korsunsky, adding he cannot make details surrounding the discussions of the trip public.

☆ With backing from business lobby, Japan PM calls for workers' pay hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Above all, wage hikes that beat price hikes are needed," Kishida told an annual gathering of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which lays out its policy agenda for this year. "The wave of wage hikes must spread to small firms and local areas to enhance competitiveness amid heated competition to attract workers" amid labour shortages, Kishida said. While achieving "structural wage hikes," Kishida pledged to continue to take steps to curb energy and food prices to ease the pain of inflation on households. Masakazu Tokura, head of Japan's biggest business lobby Keidanren, expressed support for the wage push. Moreover, the small companies that provide most of Japan's jobs generally can't increase pay, business owners, economists and officials say.

Kazuo Ueda, a 71-year-old university professor who has kept a low profile despite strong credentials as a monetary policy expert, ticked some important boxes. While he was not even on the list of dark horse candidates floated by the media, Ueda was well known in global central bank circles. The bank's preferred choices were incumbent deputy governor Amamiya, as well as former deputies Hiroshi Nakaso and Hirohide Yamaguchi, given their deep knowledge on monetary policy. Matsuno said he hoped the BOJ works closely with the government and guides monetary policy flexibly, when asked whether Ueda's appointment could lead to a retreat from Abenomics. While he warned of the rising cost of the BOJ's yield control policy, Ueda has called for the need to keep monetary policy loose to ensure Japan stably achieves the bank's 2% inflation target.

[1/5] David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group, arrives for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (not in picture) at Kishida's official residence in Tokyo, Japan September 13, 2022. REUTERS/Issei Kato/PoolWASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - David Malpass, president of the World Bank, unexpectedly said he would resign in June on Wednesday, leaving open a job that oversees billions of dollars of funding and has a direct impact on poverty, climate change preparation, emergency aid and other issues in developing countries around the globe. RAJIV SHAShah is the former USAID administrator under Obama and currently president of the Rockefeller Foundation, a philanthropic group that says it aims to "promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world." The foundation recently partnered with the U.S. State Department on a carbon offset program at COP27, the international climate conference. MINOUCHE SHAFIKShafik is an Egypt-born, British American economist who is currently president of the London School of Economics and has served as deputy governor of the Bank of England and deputy managing director of the IMF.

☆ Kazuo Ueda is set to become Japan's next central bank governor. Here's what it means
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesKazuo Ueda is set to become the next governor of the Bank of Japan, succeeding current central bank chief Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. Kishida recently emphasized the need for the next central bank governor to have "global communication skills" and be able to coordinate closely with global peers, Reuters reported, citing his comments in parliament. He has led the central bank's ultra-dovish monetary policy, including maintaining a negative interest rate since 2016 – even as global peers have been hiking to tackle inflation. Bank of America Global Research expects gradual policy normalization under the central bank's new leadership instead of an abrupt change, according to the firm's economists led by Izumi Devalier. 'Well-suited' deputiesJapan's government also reportedly announced its nominees for other central bank roles including Shinichi Uchida, currently the central bank's executive director, and Ryozo Himino, the former chief of Japan's Financial Services Agency.

[1/4] A Japanese flag flutters atop the Bank of Japan building under construction in Tokyo, Japan, September 21, 2017. "This is a problem that is not going to change easily," said Momoko Nojo, a prominent campaigner for gender equality in Japan. The BOJ ranked 142nd of 185 central banks on gender equality, according to a report last year by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. About 11% of central banks surveyed had a female governor, a record high, while 37% had female deputy governors. That target is far below the European Central Bank, where women hold 30% of management roles.

Ueda, a 71-year-old former Bank of Japan (BOJ) policy board member, will succeed incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda, whose second, five-year term ends on April 8, according to documents presented to parliament on Tuesday. Analysts expect Ueda, who had warned of the dangers of premature interest rate hikes in the past, to hold off on tightening monetary policy. "Ueda is likely to focus on theory and empirical analysis in guiding monetary policy," said Naomi Muguruma, senior market economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Upon parliament's approval, Ueda will chair his first BOJ policy meeting on April 27-28. A soft-spoken academic with a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ueda is seen as a pragmatist who can adjust his views on monetary policy flexibly.

[1/2] Kazuo Ueda, a former member of the BOJ's policy board, is seen at the headquarters of Bank of Japan in Tokyo, Japan May 25, 2022, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Ueda, a 71-year-old former Bank of Japan policy board member and an academic at Kyoritsu Women's University, will succeed incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda, whose second, five-year term ends on April 8. The governor and deputy governor nominees will testify at confirmation hearings to be held on Feb. 24 for the lower house, and Feb. 27 for the upper chamber. International markets have been closely watching Kishida's choice of next BOJ governor for clues on how soon the bank could phase out its yield curve control (YCC) policy. With markets creaking under the BOJ's heavy-handed intervention, many investors are betting the central bank will start hiking rates under Kuroda's successor.

☆ Kishida wants the next Bank of Japan governor to be a 'hawk,' says strategist
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailKishida wants the next Bank of Japan governor to be a 'hawk,' says strategistNicholas Smith of CLSA says Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's "support rate is getting hammered because of … inflation."

☆ BOJ's deputy governor Amamiya sees no imminent need to tweak YCC
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"YCC is an extraordinary policy, so we must carefully balance the benefits and costs," Amamiya said. "For now, I don't see the need to make further steps to enhance the flexibility of YCC," he added. The government will present its nominees for the new BOJ governor and two deputies to parliament on Feb. 14, a ruling party lawmaker told reporters on Friday. Analysts see Amamiya as being more dovish on monetary policy than other contenders like former deputy governors Hiroshi Nakaso and Hirohide Yamaguchi. He stressed the need to maintain current stimulus to ensure inflation hits the BOJ's 2% target in a sustainable manner.

☆ Dollar on the front foot after robust U.S. jobs data, yen falters
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The yen weakened to a three-week low of 132.60 per dollar after the report, and was last fetching 132.35, down 0.88%. Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank, said Amamiya dovish policy credentials are raising uncertainty about BOJ's eventual exit from its ultra-easy monetary stance. The BOJ's loose policy settings have attracted increasing criticism from many quarters, including opposition politicians and traders, for distorting market function. But he also said in July the BOJ must "always" think about the means of exiting ultra-loose monetary policy. On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department's closely watched employment report showed that nonfarm payrolls surged by 517,000 jobs last month.

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